Federal government grants $1.6 million to continue Baylor research on Gulf War illness

Baylor researchers are working to help solve the mystery of “Gulf War illness,” a chronic, multi-symptom illness that still affects at least a quarter of veterans from the first Gulf War and is not yet fully understood, even two decades after the conflict began.

The U.S. Department of Defense has been so impressed with Baylor’s work in this area that it recently awarded an additional $1.6 million of funding; those grants came on top of previous federal support of about $700,000.

Symptoms of Gulf War illness usually include some combination of chronic headache, widespread pain, memory and concentration difficulties, and digestive and other abnormalities. Medical and psychiatric diagnoses and routine laboratory tests have been unable to pinpoint the cause.

The Baylor research, directed by Dr. Lea Steele, aims to address multiple aspects of the syndrome, from studies on the biological processes causing veterans’ symptoms to development of a nationwide network that would advance health research on the issue.